But she’d been so swept off her feet by him. He was charming, funny. He could have had plenty of other girls on campus, but he’d turned his grin on her. And then, way too soon, the day came when the stick had turned blue, and it wasn’t about being flattered by his attention anymore. Only a few months after they’d started dating, there she was, standing in a bathroom, thinking her life was going to end. In her mother’s eyes, it would have. The Good Girl and the Good Guy pregnant? Unmarried? How could such a thing happen?

Hot sex, Mother.

Over another sip of wine, Cora looked around the bar. She’d been there for four hours. People-watching was one of her favourite things. If you sat quietly enough, people forgot you were there. In dribs and drabs, people from work and people she had never seen before floated in and out. People she knew were married left with others who weren’t their spouse. An argument had erupted in the corner, and an involuntary flinch at the sound shifted her in her seat.

Frazer had disappeared out the door just after Cora had taken a seat at the bar. A flash of longing as she’d done so made Cora realise how lonely she felt—Frazer was the only person Cora really knew in there. Everyone else was an acquaintance or a stranger, people she somehow never got around to knowing. So was Frazer, really. But at least they’d spoken more than a few words together. Definitely more than a few, really, after their meeting about the programme.

Cora took a large sip of her drink.

If she was wishing to speak to Frazer, she must be lonely.

But if Frazer had stayed, they could have shared a drink and talked about the project that was finally coming together. The pitch might actually be enough to get everything moving sooner rather than later.

Lisa still hadn’t replied and Alec hadn’t tried to call. She didn’t know if she was happy about the latter one or not. Alec often sulked after their arguments, coming back with puppy-dog eyes and a gift soaked in words, ones which soon turned to ash. The past year, he’d come back to her only with the words that quickly flared back to anger again.

The glass he’d thrown had been her great-grandmother’s, one she had brought from Thailand with her; one of the only things she had managed to bring.

Maybe Cora could glue it back together.

Probably as well as she could glue her marriage back together.

That thought made Cora give a half-hearted snort.

Cora’s mother would be devastated. Her father would be ropeable. Anything that had come from his grandparents’ homelands was a treasure to him.

Of course, neither of them would find out.

The third wine of the evening was warming under her hands. How long could she sit here until she had to go home? Hopefully, Alec was on the couch.

Usually he was after this kind of night.